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WILD LANDS 



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LONG ISLAND 



EXAMINED, AND 



DETAILED EVIDENCES GIVEN 



OF THEIR 



V A.LXJE, 



TOGETHER WITH A REASONABLE CONJECTURE WHY THEY HAVE 
NOT BEEN IMPROVED. 



With a compai'ative view of their Productiveness when contrasted with 
the Improved Lands located on the North and South of the Island. 



BY THOMAS SCHNEBLY, 

BROOKLYN, L. L 



o, NEW YORK: 

^Printed at the '• Sun" Book and .lob Printing Office, 128 Fulton street. 



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186.>. 



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[from the dniom akk.] 

OF THE 

''WILD LANDS 

or 

LONG ISLAND 

EXAMINED, AND 

DETAILED EVIDENCES GIVEN 

OF THEIR 



TOGKinER WITH A REASONABLB CONJECTURE WHY THET HATS 
• NOT BEEN IMPROVED. 



With a comparative view of their Productiveness when contrasted vrhh 
the Improved Lands located on the North and South of the Island. 



BY THOMAS SCHNEBLY, 

BROOKLYN, L. L 



NEW YORK: 
Printed at the " Sun" Book and Job Printing OfiBce, 128 Fulton street. 

1860. 






^3 



THE 



WILD LANDS OF LOIG ISLAND, 

THEIR VALUE, &c. 



Having made repeated visits to " Long Island," both 
on the Northern and Southern border, and also through 
its " Centre," (or that portion generally designated 
the "Wild Wood Lands," through which the Long Isl- 
and Rail Road passes,) from the superficial observa- 
tions afforded me, in connection with the prevailing 
opinions entertained by residents, I gleaned, in my 
transient visits, an opinion decidedly impressed, with 
what "every body" seemed to admit, that ^'■the Lands 
contiguous to the waters were all that was available 
on the Island for agricultural purposes." 

In arecent visit, however, my explorations and exam- 
inations have been more extensive and thorough, and 
consequently more satisfactory and reliable ; I have 
possessed myself with important " facts," which have 
materially changed my "views,^^ and will go far to de- 
monstrate the opinion expressed years since by dis- 
tinguished scientific gentlenien, that " Long Island" is 
destined to be tlie " Garden Spot" of the State ot 
J^ew York. 

According to the acknowledged and received opin- 



4 The Wild Lands of Long Island. 

ions of the old settlers of this territory, Long Island 
was originally inhabited by Indians, who ceded or 
sold their lands to the British Government in Colonial 
times, which was afterwards granted by " Patent" to 
different families, for services rendered, or on paying a 
small amount as an equivolent. The Patents convey- 
ing tracts of land from one mile to ten miles square. 

The Island being thus mapped out by Patents, own- 
ed by different parties, whose possessions siretched 
from the waters on the North and South sides to the 
middle and wood lands in the centre, each owner be- 
coming " the Lord of his Manor." 

It seems all that the original proprietors cared for, 
was a beautiful country residence, signalized by a pic- 
turesque and romantic " water aite," which very likely 
was at first only inhabited through the Summer sea- 
son, or improved according to circumstances; that is, 
as much land as would subserve for domestic purposes 
was only cultivated, thus confining their "farming 
operations" to a few acres , whilst the great body ot 
their lands, grown up with " heavy timber" and under, 
growth almost impenetrable, and reaching for miles 
to the middle of the Island, were left uncultivated and 
unimproved in its native luxuriance for the "wild 
deer" to roam in, or the feathered songsters to mate 
and propagate and raise their young. As the " water 
sites" of the Island became more densely inhabited, en- 
terprising residents parceled off tracts or lots of one 
thousand acres, more or less, of " wood land," and be- 
ginning at one end or side, would yearly cut thousands 
of "cord wood" for market, and by the time they 
reached the outer boundary or extreme side of said 
lots, that portion which they had commenced cutting 
,on would reproduce another growth of smaller wood 



The Wild Lands of Long' Island. 5 

ready for the axe. It is acknowledged by hundreds 
that in fifteen years the forest trees, after being cut, 
will, from their stumps and roots, re-produce a growth 
of wood sufficiently large to be cut again. 

The inhabitants, thus farming their " manors," rais- 
ing only enough of produce for their own use, and 
cutting timber from the " forests or wild lands," set- 
tled down into the conviction that they had clear land 
enough to work for home consumption, which was all 
that was worth cultivating; while the wood land from 
which they cut their wood was not fit for agricultural 
purposes, and consequently considered only capable 
of re-producing wood. 

I believe this is the main reason why the lands on 
the middle of the Island, got into such bad repute, and 
thereby received the cognomen of" wild lands." This 
delusion may have continued until now, had not the 
Long Island Rail Road penetrated these forests and 
opened up to men of science and enterprise a tract of 
country, before little known or appreciated for its in- 
trinsic value, both as to its geological structure or 
its agricultural or horticultural advantages. 

The conviction that now arrests you, may be, that 
the proiDrietors of the Long Island Rail Road must 
have anticipated a large trade along their route. For 
the travel from and to Brooklyn, namely Greenport, 
when the road was first constructed, would hardly 
have compensated for their outlay ; however, looking 
to the future, they have abided their time, and now 
they are beginning to reap the advantages resulting 
therefrom. 

The Long Island Rail Road passes through the mid- 
dle of these lands, and furnishes a quick and easy ac- 
cess to the cities of New York and Brooklyn, contain- 



6 The Wild Lands of Long Island. 

ing a million of population, and tlius brings the mar- 
kets within easy and quick reach, transferring ferti- 
lizers from the cities, and taking in the varied pro- 
ducts of farm and gardens, beside the reclaiming of 
those lands, which until then lay entirely wild and un- 
productive. At any rate, if the Rail Road Company do 
not reap the advantages contemplated by building 
their road, the citizens of Brooklyn and New York 
should ever accord to them the meed of praise for 
opening to them an avenue of trade, which now yearly 
supplies a large portion of their marketing and provi- 
sions. 

I will now entertain the proposition, generally, that 
all the territory of Long Island is susceptible of a 
high state of cultivation, and is as productive as any 
lands in the state of New York. Gen. John A. Dix> 
who at present presides in the Post Office of New 
York City, in his address before the New York Agri- 
cultural Society, October 7th, 1859, thus adverts to 
Long Island: " It stretches out from New York Har- 
bor 130 miles into the Atlantic Ocean. A most ex- 
traordinary delusion has prevailed in regard to the 
productiveness of the central portion, and yet the sur- 
face soil of this whole region, with some inconsidera- 
ble exceptions, consists of a rich loam, from twenty to 
thirty inches in depth, easily cultivated and made 
highly productive, without immoderate manuring. 
Some of the best farms in the southern part of the 
State have during the last five years, been made in 
this condemned region, and it is shown by agricultural 
survey of the State, that the Island produces fourteen 
bushels of wheat to the acre, considerable beyond the 
average of the State, and very little less than that of 
the western district. In a very few places the gravel 



The Wild Lands of Long Island. 7 

with which the surface soil is underlaid, crops cut, 
but these localities are believed not to exceed two 
per cent, of the whole Island. Of all the districts of 
the State this has the finest summer climate, and the 
winters are mittigated and made temperate by the. 
surrounding waters; close observations and successful 
experiment have dissipated misapprehensions in re- 
gard to its fertility. They have shown that its soil is 
warm, genial, and productive, atd there is little hazard 
in predicting that it will at no distant time become 
the garden of the city of New York. As Gen. Dix re- 
marks, " the soil is warm, genial, and productive," and 
which, in fact, overlays the whole Island, varying in 
depth from one to five feet, and has this peculiar fea- 
ture, as a general rule, all over the Island. First there 
is the surface soil a foot or more deep, then sand and 
gravel intermixed with clay underneath. The soil is 
deepest on the centre, and grows thinner as you ap- 
proach the water, which is the opposite of the receiv- 
ed opinion that formerly prevailed and erroneously de- 
signated the middle, " wild or plain lands," because 
it was supposed the soil was not deep enough there 
to bear culture, and therefore as above detail was 
literally abandoned. A singular phenomena occurs in 
the undulatings of the lands, that is, the soil is less 
fertile in depressions and always more alluvial and pro- 
ductive on the elevated surfaces. Silex is the pre- 
vailing ingredient in some sections, while a clayey 
loam prevails in other districts. On the north side, in 
the vicinity of Smithstown, pure sand is found, and al- 
so in Happaugh's Valley, but both localities are in a 
high state of cultivation. Since science has analyzed 
soils and disclosed their component parts, we at once 
understand the composition of plants, their nature,. 



8 The Wild Lands of Long Island. 

the food they hest thrive upon, and the degree in 
which they extract it from the soil. All soils, whatever 
their depth or richness, by constant wear in producing 
will eventually wear out, provided they are not restor- 
ed, by the same amount of organic and inorganic matter 
which have entered into the organization of the crops 
removed. This is the universal law of compensation 
in every department of physical life. Return to the 
soil in manures and fertilizing substances, as much as 
you take from it, or you diminish the ability of your 
lands in producing, and sell their fertility in the crops 
you take off; this has been the experience of some 
few settlers in the middle or wild lands of Long Island. 
They have cleared a portion of territory, and in a year 
or two have worked their lands to death, simply be- 
cause they took from the land all they could get, giv- 
ing them no manures or fertilizers in return, as though 
they expected to enhance the price of their horses by 
making them labor without sufficient food to perpetu- 
ate their health and strength. 

The different " Townships" have had large " tracts'' 
of lands ceded to them, which still lay uncultivated 
as a common or pasture ground for the "village cat- 
tle." I will allude to the one contiguous to Hemp- 
stead, embracing a tract of some fifteen thousand 
acres, without fencing, but clothed with a heavy crop 
of grass. These upland meadows stretch from the 
ridge to the ocean entirely free from bush or tree 
which is supposed to have been originally rooted and 
burned out by fires, and are very similar in appearance 
and product to what is denominated in New Jersey, 
the " meadows," which being covered by a vegetable 
mould, accumulating for years, assumes the appearance 
of " Turf," and being set on fire, will burn until every 



The Wild Lands of Long' Island. 9 

vestage of stumps, under-growth, and roots and vegeta- 
ble matter is cleared away to the clay stratum beneath 
and in a year or two thereafter grow up in meadow 
grass, as luxuriant and beautiful as the eye can con- 
template or gaze upon. Individuals, like " Townships," 
who held lands by Patents, still possess them in their 
descendants. There is the " Nichols Patent, at West 
Islip, containing originally ten miles square, granted 
by the Colonial Governor Sir John Donagon, which, in 
fact, is owned by the descendants of the Nichols fam- 
ily still residing in that Township. 

There is also the Wiilets, also Mr. J. M. Thompson? 
Mr. Mowbray, and Mr. Gribbens' Patent of twenty-five 
thousand acres, and others, land holders, who origin- 
ally cared not to cultivate the whole of their lands, 
nor desired any body else to improve them, and conse- 
quently shut out all investigation, and while they lived 
amidst gorgeous scenery, a genial climate, and on a 
productive soil, were satisfied with cultivating a few 
acres to supply their wants, leaving the balance of 
their territory to unproductiveness, which in time, for 
that reason, became known as the Wild or Wood Lands 
of Long Island. 

Going south from Hempstead, all along the margin 
of the Bay, you behold farms yielding heavy crops. 
Mr. Richard Higbie of West Islip, has a farm of 100 
acres, which his forefathers for one hundred and fifty 
years, cultivated successively and successfully before 
him. He has this season entertained at his house 
over five hundred visitors, who resort to the Island 
for health, enjoyment in hunting, fishing, and good 
living. He raised all the vegetables, and more than 
he could consume, together with heavy crops of corn, 
rye, oats, wheat and grass besides. 



10 The Wild Lands of Long Island. 

A farm contiguous, owned by Mr. Udell, of five hun- 
dred acres, is a beautiful location ; lands rich and pro- 
ductive ; as is also the farm of three hundred acres 
owned by Dr. Wagstalf, which a few years since he 
purchased for sixty thousand dollars. 1 counted in a 
line in one of his fields twenty-five stacks of grain, 
averaging perhaps about one hundred bushels, the 
product of last harvest. Further south, you come to 
another " model farm" of five hundred acres, owned by 
Mr. Bergen. In his barn yard I counted over forty 
stacks of grain. His house cost him twenty-two thou- 
sand dollars ; stabling, barns and fencing, ten thou- 
sand more, while he estimates the whole at sixty 
thousand dollars. He informed me that he laid out 
yearly one thousand dollars for manures, and that the 
product of his farm returned him ten thousand dollars 
annually. Mr Bergen has north of his farm a large 
tract of the " wild or plain lands," and Mr. Udell ac- 
companied me in his carriage to a farm in the wild 
lands of five hundred acres, about one hundred acres 
cleared, the balance in wood. This farm has been 
cultivated for years. He pointed out one field, which 
seven years since he covered with stable manure mix- 
ed with bone dust, and each successive year he has 
mowed a heavy crop of grass up to this season, when 
it yielded two tons to the acre. A corn field on the 
same farm looked as good and as luxuriant as any 
farmer could desire ; and yet, he observed, "as I have 
plenty of land without this to cultivate, I would, or 
rather my son, who in fact it belongs to, would be 
willing to sell it for eight thousand dollars." " What," 
said I, " the whole tract of four hundred acres, with 
such evidences before you of what it can be made to 
produce," " why," said I, " the wood upon it," which was 



The Wild Lands of Long Island. 11 

pretty heavy timber, " would absolutely sell for half 
of the money." " I know that" said Mr. Udell, « but I 
would let it go anyhow at that price, rather than be 
bothered in attending to it, it is so far removed from 
my house." It was a section of land of about three 
miles long, a public road bounding the east side and 
a stream of water bounding the west ; the stream had 
water power and sites sufficient for mill seats, or man- 
ufacturing purposes. I have detailed the above facts 
to shoiv the qualify of the lands by their 'productiveness, on 
the south side of the Island, and as I have introduced the 
reader to the " wild or wood lands," I ivill examine their 
quality by the same rule, that is, their productiveness, which 
will give a fair estimate of their value, susceptibility 
lor improvement and culture. However, before I be- 
gin the contrast, I will state a conceded fact, that the 
lands on the north side of the Island are as good if not 
better, than the lands on the South or Bay side of the 
Island. 

Besides Mr. Udell's farm, already cited, there is in 
the neighborhood of Deer Park Station, several farms, 
one of which I will allude to, belonging to Mr. Wilson, 
right in the " Wild Lands." It is as beautiful a tract 
of land as you could desire to look upon. He has 
about one hundred and fifty acres cleared. Indeed, he 
has just reclaimed another field of sixty acres, by the 
following process : He first cut down the scrub oaks 
and under-brush— which, when dry, is burned — then, 
with his oxen and plough, he breaks it up ; then ga- 
thers roots and fibres, cross-ploughs it, again gathers up 
the roots, &c., and finishes it by a third cross plough- 
ing, when the soil undergoing this pulverizing opera- 
tion, becomes pliable, mellow, and ready for the seed. 
His wheat, corn, rye, oats, and vegetables, will com- 



12 The Wild Lands of Long- Island. 

pare with any of the crops raised either north or south 
of him. 

In the vicinity of Deer Park I had the curiosity of 
enquiring as to the product of their Peach Orchards, 
and was surprised at the various statements made by 
•resident farmers in relation to the quantities raised. 
Messrs. Hawly, Smith, and Carman have an orchard of 
thirty acres, which, up to the time I was there, had 
produced one thousand baskets this season, which they 
sent by rail road to market, receiving $2,00 net per 
basket, clear of all expense of picking, transportation 
and commission. They expected to pick another thou- 
sand baskets still in the orchard. | 

In consequence of the failure of the Peach crop In 
New Jersey this year, the Peaches sent from Lon^ Isl- 
and, no doubt, commanded a better price. 

Other Peach orchards, owned by Mr. Ilenry Elr.tch- 
ly, Mr. John Weeks, Mr. Jesse Conklin, Mr. C liver 
Sands, and others in that vicinity, daily sent by rail- 
road to market from two to three hundred baskets, in 
cars appropria^ted entirely for that purpose, shelved 
off to hold and transmit the Peaches vdthout damage. 

Further east, on the line of the Rail Hoad, is Lake- 
land Station. Considerable improvenient has occurred ; 
the forest trees and scrub oaks — in fact the wild lands 
are opening up too to the enterprise oi those who 
will reap a rich reward for their outlay and labor. 

The subject of these lands and their successful cul- 
ture, was several years since brought before the pub- 
lic by Dr. E. F. Peck, who had or then resided on the 
Island, examined the soil carefully in these v/iids, and 
earnestly urged their settlement and cultivation ; and 
all the facts which we have seen and stated demon- 
strate the truth of the opinions advocated and pub- 



TJie Wild Lands of Long Island. 13 

lislied by Dr. Peck in' regard to the productive quality 
of these long neglected lands. 

Mr. Young will show you a cranberry patch of one 
fourth of an acre, on which the cranberries lay so 
:hick that they literally lay on top of each other all 
over the patch, and will yield, as is supposed, one 
pint to the square foot, 

I visited a farm owned by Mr. Spence, whose land 
lay a quarter of a mile south of Waverly Station, on 
the Hail Eoad, and stretches in parallel lines t'.iree 
miles south to within one mile and a half of Patch- 
ogue. I think he has about five hundred ceres, 
(part of a tract of nine hundred and sixty Lcres,) 
through the middle of which he has opened an avenue 
DrJ road leading from 'his house on the soutli side to 
within a quarter of a mile of the Rail Roai Station. — 
The above lands and those contiguous, wsre ceded by 
Patent to Mr. Winthrop, comprising an ai-ea of ten 
miles square for hunting grounds. 

Mr. Spence has cleared wiohin the last three years 
about tv>^enty acres, and has raised corn at the rate of 
seventy-iive bushels to the acre; oats fifty bushels to 
the acre ; rye thirty bushels^ and buckwheat twenty 
bushels. He has an onion patch, containing one acre, 
and it is the greatest curiosity I ever saw. They co- 
ver the ground as thick as they can lay, and from 
which I doubt not he will gather at least five hundred 
bushels. I make this assertion for this reason, one of 
his neighbors now has a patch of onions containing 
two roods, which last year was planted in onions, and 
brought eight bushels. He says his two roods or 
patch is as good this year as it was last, and that Mr. 
Spence's acre is better than his planting of this or 
last years' crop ; consequently, as there is one hun- 



l4 The Wild Lands of Long Island. 

dred and sixty roods in an acre, by multiplying it by 
four, it would give you the quantity or number of 
bushels on the acre belonging to Mr. Spence. He has 
a carrot patch, which he expects to get at the rate of 
a thousand bushels per acre ; also a beet patch, which 
will yield as much. We dug up a number of hills of 
potatoes, when each hill turned out eight or ten large 
beautiful potatoes ; and in answer to my question, 
*' How many bushels do you expect from this acre .^" 
Mr. Spence replied, " about two hundred and fifty 
bushels," which I thought was a fair estimate. Peas, 
beans, tomatoes, and melons, grow in any quantity 
and luxuriance, and of the best and largest size. I 
never saw a finer buckwheat field, which was the first 
crop put in the ground after breaking it up, with but 
one bag of Guano to the acre. 

This Spring he planted a cranberry patch of an acre' 
which had not only taken root, and began to spread 
and cover the ground, but was producing the berry in 
all their perfection, and will partially compensate him 
by yielding berries this present season. 

The fact is thus demonstrated that the cranberry 
will grow and produce on high ground or uplands 
without the necessary inundations subject to low 
marshy grounds, which was always thought essential 
to their luxuriant growth and production. Mr. Si3ence 
says he expects, when his cranberry patch is lully set 
and in full bearing, he will be able to gather yearly at 
least, if not more than one hundred bushels from 
the acre, which, averaging four dollars per bushel 
net, will be worth four hundred dollars; and, as it 
will not wear out, and requires no further attention af- 
ter the first years' culture, what could be more profit- 
able, or return a greater compensation to the Long 



The Wild Lands of Long" Island. 15 

Island Farmer than to put down two or three acres of 
cranberries, particularly when their market value is 
so high, and they could sell at the same rate thou- 
sands of bushels for exportation. 

Mr. Spence was clearing some ten acres while I wat 
with him — the work does not seem to be laborious. 
They have something like a hoe, sharp at the edge 
like an axe, with which they cut the scrub oaks and 
pine and under-growth down, and let it lay until it 
dries, then set fire, when a blaze sweeps over the 
whole surface, consuming all that is laying upon it ; 
next he ploughs it up with a team of oxen, which se- 
parates the matted roots, leaving only the larger 
stumps ; he then gathers up the loosened roots, &c. 
burns them, and then cross-ploughs it again, burning 
the loose matter brought up to the surface ; one more 
cross-ploughing prepares it for sewing or planting his 
crop ; all alter ploughings is easily performed. 

He and his overseer estimated the whole cost in 
my presence, for breaking up the land, per acre, and 
putting it in condition to be seeded down, and on a 
liberal computation made it reach ten dollars. I 
think this was an over estimate. 

His well is thirty feet deep, the water is as soft and 
delicious as any water I ever tasted. The same may 
be said of the water all over the Island. 

In my examination, and in the facts I have detailed, 
it is manifest that the " wild or wood lands" are just 
as susceptible of improvement, and their cultivation 
will yield as abundant crops, as any other portion of 
the Island ; and it is a wonder to me that they have 
not long since been bought up and secured, at the 
nominal prices they now sell at, by thousands who de- 
sire a home, and who, did they now locate on the Isl- 



16 The Wild Lands of Long Island. 

and, would in five years be independent, or at the end 
of that term sell their lands for ten times as much as 
they cost them. Long Island will be, ere long, thickly 
populated, and realize the opinion of those who long 
since believed it would eventually become the garden 
spot of New York State. 

Lands thus lying contiguous to the markets, afford- 
ed by the cities of Brooklyn and New York, and which 
actual culture demonstrate, are as productive as any 
other territory within the bounding of the State, hav- 
ing the advantage of Rail Road communication, both 
regular, expeditious, and cheap; and when those lands 
are selling from ten to thirty dollars an acre, accord- 
ing to location, there is not only an opportunity for 
capitalists to invest, but this is the propitious time 
for those to buy who can only afford to secure a few 
acres, upon easy and accommodating terms, when a 
year's delay may so enhance the value of the "Long 
Island Lands" as to effectually debar persons in mode- 
rate circumstances, from acquiring a desirable and 
comfortable home for themselves and families, on a 
territory where the climate is as delightful as the 
most healthy in the United States. 



S^STofcWOMSS 



'^;v'- 



003 154 014 8 ^ 



